Stars Dance (song)
| producer = |Steve Hammons }} }} "Stars Dance" is a song by American singer Selena Gomez from her debut solo studio album, of the same name (2013), included as the third track on the record. Gomez teased a preview of the song in her official YouTube account on July 15, 2013 but the full song was leaked with the rest of the album a few days before. The song was written by Adam Schmalholz, along with duo Antonina Armato and Tim James, who handled produced the track under their stage name Rock Mafia. Dubkiller and Steve Hammons handled the additional production. Selena considered the song "sophisticated" and "beautiful". "Stars Dance" is a dubstep song, which contains an orchestral-dubstep beat. It is a dreamy, celestial and futuristic song; which features orchestral-cello, background vocals and dark synths with gloomy, trip hop beats, along with influences of EDM, synth-pop, and pop music. Written specifically for her, the track talks about making someone feel very special and amazing and feeling incomparable to that person. The track was frequently compared to Britney Spears's work. "Stars Dance" peaked number 102 on French chart. Background After the end of the When the Sun Goes Down era, Gomez announced that she would pause her musical career to focus on her film roles. After that, the singer confirmed the end of the band Selena Gomez & the Scene, after three studio albums. During the break period, Selena participated in several productions, like Spring Breakers, Behaving Badly and Getaway. She met with composers and producers to write songs for her new work. Gomez announced in October 2012 that she had started the preparation of her new album and then she announced her first solo career album. On June 3, 2013, the singer participated in a live chat promoted by YouTube, which revealed that the album would be titled Stars Dance and its release date, as well as talk about the songs of the record; about "Stars Dance" Gomez said "it's a beautiful song, it's kinda sensual in a beautiful way, it has this soft feel to it, but also still exhuming the confidence", she also said that the song is a big statement because is talking about the place that she is, wanting to be confident. A week before the record hit stores, the artist unveiled previews of all the songs on the album on her channel. "Stars Dance" could be heard in its full version by the public on July 16, 2013, the date which the album was released to be listened on iTunes Store. Recording and composition The song was written specifically for Gomez by Adam Schmalholz with Antonina Armato and Tim James known by their production name Rock Mafia. Cameron Stone played the cello while Rock Mafia produced the track with Dubkiller and Steve Hammons handling the additional production. The track was engineered by Steve Hammons and Adam Comstock and was sent to be mixed by Rock Mafia. Steve Hammons served as the track's mixing engineer. The track was recorded, engineered and mixed at the Rock Mafia Studios in Santa Monica, California. Finally, the song was sent to Chris Gehringer to be mastered at Sterling Sound in New York City. Musically, "Stars Dance" is a mid-tempo dubstep song, which contains an orchestral-dubstep beat. It is a dreamy, celestial and futuristic song; which features orchestral-cello, background vocals and dark synths with gloomy, trip hop beats, along with influences of EDM, synthpop, and pop music. The song is written in the key of E minor with a tempo of 112 beats per minute in common time, and Gomez's vocals span from G3 to E5. Lyrically, the track talks about making someone feel very special and amazing and feeling incomparable to that person, but some critics say that the song is a "clean sex song". In the first line "Wake up to your dreams / And watch them come true" it could be a reference to Rock Mafia, the team who produced the track for Selena; in some interviews Selena said that Rock Mafia watched her being bigger in the music industry and they made her first platinum single "Naturally", so they made her musical dreams come true. Critical reception Andrew Hampp of Billboard said "with a fuzzy, mid-tempo beat similar to "Come & Get It", the title track channels the dreamy dubstep of Skrillex but also features one of Gomez's most distinctive vocals. Layered with Rock Mafia's signature drum beats, "Stars Dance" is a stylish standout". Love Is Pop said that the song is the darkest track on the album and that is "exquisitely-produced mid-tempo tune features brief but potent flourishes of strings and dark synth with gloomy, trip-hop-ish beats along with low, burbling bass that sounds downright menacing. It’s a very lush song with layers and layers of other sounds as well. More attentive listeners will notice some creepy moaning, apparently there just to make sure the song sends a chill down your spine. "I can make the stars dance / light up the moon," Selena sings during the mesmerizing chorus, like a wiccan casting a powerful love spell. This one is a serious contender for pop song of the year." Idolator said that the song is "brilliant swirling nugget". The song received several comparisons with Britney Spears' works. Credits and personnel ;Recording and management * Recorded, Engineered and Mixed at Rock Mafia Studios * Mastered at Sterling Sound * Downtown DLJ Songs obo Antonina Songs (ASCAP); Songs of Universal, Inc./Akashic Field Music (BMI); Downtown DMP Song obo In Q Music/Mafia Della Roccia (BMI) ;Personnel *Selena Gomez – vocals *Antonina Armato – songwriting; production, mixing (as part of Rock Mafia) *Tim James – songwriting; production, mixing (as part of Rock Mafia) *Adam Schmalholz – songwriting *Dubkiller – additional production *Steve Hammons – additional production, engineering, mix engineer *Adam Comstock – engineering *Cameron Stone – cello *Chris Gehringer – mastering Credits adapted from Stars Dance liner notes.Stars Dance liner notes CD Hollywood Records (2013). Chart positions References Category:2013 songs Category:Selena Gomez songs Category:Song recordings produced by Rock Mafia Category:Songs written by Tim James (musician) Category:Songs written by Antonina Armato Category:Songs written by IN-Q